If I Had Your Face
A Novel
(Sprache: Englisch)
A riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossible standards of beauty, after-hours room salons catering to wealthy men, ruthless social hierarchies, and K-pop...
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A riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossible standards of beauty, after-hours room salons catering to wealthy men, ruthless social hierarchies, and K-pop maniaPowerful and provocative . . . a novel about female strength, spirit, resilience and the solace that friendship can sometimes provide. The Washington Post
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time NPR Esquire Bustle BBC New York Post InStyle
Kyuri is an achingly beautiful woman with a hard-won job at a Seoul room salon, an exclusive underground bar where she entertains businessmen while they drink. Though she prides herself on her cold, clear-eyed approach to life, an impulsive mistake threatens her livelihood.
Kyuri s roommate, Miho, is a talented artist who grew up in an orphanage but won a scholarship to study art in New York. Returning to Korea after college, she finds herself in a precarious relationship with the heir to one of the country s biggest conglomerates.
Down the hall in their building lives Ara, a hairstylist whose two preoccupations sustain her: an obsession with a boy-band pop star, and a best friend who is saving up for the extreme plastic surgery that she hopes will change her life.
And Wonna, one floor below, is a newlywed trying to have a baby that she and her husband have no idea how they can afford to raise in Korea s brutal economy.
Together, their stories tell a gripping tale at once unfamiliar and unmistakably universal, in which their tentative friendships may turn out to be the thing that ultimately saves them.
Lese-Probe zu „If I Had Your Face “
AraSujin is hell-bent on becoming a room salon girl. She has invited Kyuri from across the hall to our tiny apartment, and the three of us are sitting on the floor in a little triangle, looking out the window over our bar-dotted street. Drunk men in suits stumble by, contemplating where to go for their next round of drinks. It is late and we are drinking soju in little paper cups.
Kyuri works at Ajax, the most expensive room salon in Nonhyeon. Men bring their clients there to discuss business in long dark rooms with marble tables. Sujin has told me how much these men pay a night to have girls like Kyuri sit next to them and pour them liquor, and it s taken me a long time to believe her.
I d never heard of room salons before I met Kyuri, but now that I know what to look for, I see one on every side street. From the outside, they are nearly invisible. Nondescript signs hang above darkened stairways, leading to underground worlds where men pay to act like bloated kings.
Sujin wants to be a part of it all, for the money. Right now she is asking Kyuri where she got her eyes done.
I got mine done back in Cheongju, says Sujin sorrowfully to Kyuri. What a mistake. I mean, just look at me. She opens her eyes extra wide. And it s true, the fold on her right eyelid has been stitched just a little too high, giving her a sly, slanted look. Unfortunately, the truth is that even apart from her asymmetrical eyelids, Sujin s face is too square for her to ever be considered pretty in the true Korean sense. Her lower jaw also protrudes too much.
Kyuri, on the other hand, is one of those electrically beautiful girls. The stitches on her double eyelids look naturally faint, while her nose is raised, her cheekbones tapered, and her entire jaw realigned and shaved into a slim v-line. Long feathery eyelashes have been planted along her tattooed eye line, and she does routine light therapy on her skin, which glistens cloudy white, like skim milk. Earlier, she
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was waxing on about the benefits of lotus leaf masks and ceramide supplements for budding neck lines. The only unaltered part of her is surprisingly her hair, which unfolds like a dark river down her back.
I was so stupid. I should have waited till I was older. With another envious look at Kyuri s perfect creases, Sujin sighs and peers at her eyes again in a little hand mirror. What a waste of money, she says.
Sujin and I have been sharing an apartment for three years now. We went to middle school and high school together in Cheongju. Our high school was vocational so it was only two years long, but Sujin didn t even finish that. She was always itching to get to Seoul, to escape the orphanage that she grew up in, and after our first year she went to try her luck at a hair academy. She was clumsy with scissors though, and ruining wigs was expensive, so she dropped out of that too, but not before she called me to come take her spot.
I am now a full-fledged stylist and a few times a week Sujin comes into the salon where I work, at 10 a.m. sharp. I wash and blow-dry her hair before she goes to work at her nail salon. A few weeks ago, she brought Kyuri in as a new client for me. It is a big deal for smaller hair shops to snag a room salon girl as a client because room salon girls get their hair and makeup done professionally every day and bring in a lot of money.
The only thing that annoys me about Kyuri is that sometimes she speaks too loudly when she is talking to me, although Sujin has told her that there is nothing wrong with my hearing. Also, I often hear her whispering about my condition at the shop, when my back is turned.
I think she means well though.
Sujin is still complaining about her eyelids. She has been unhappy about them almost the entire time I have known her&m
I was so stupid. I should have waited till I was older. With another envious look at Kyuri s perfect creases, Sujin sighs and peers at her eyes again in a little hand mirror. What a waste of money, she says.
Sujin and I have been sharing an apartment for three years now. We went to middle school and high school together in Cheongju. Our high school was vocational so it was only two years long, but Sujin didn t even finish that. She was always itching to get to Seoul, to escape the orphanage that she grew up in, and after our first year she went to try her luck at a hair academy. She was clumsy with scissors though, and ruining wigs was expensive, so she dropped out of that too, but not before she called me to come take her spot.
I am now a full-fledged stylist and a few times a week Sujin comes into the salon where I work, at 10 a.m. sharp. I wash and blow-dry her hair before she goes to work at her nail salon. A few weeks ago, she brought Kyuri in as a new client for me. It is a big deal for smaller hair shops to snag a room salon girl as a client because room salon girls get their hair and makeup done professionally every day and bring in a lot of money.
The only thing that annoys me about Kyuri is that sometimes she speaks too loudly when she is talking to me, although Sujin has told her that there is nothing wrong with my hearing. Also, I often hear her whispering about my condition at the shop, when my back is turned.
I think she means well though.
Sujin is still complaining about her eyelids. She has been unhappy about them almost the entire time I have known her&m
... weniger
Autoren-Porträt von Frances Cha
Frances Cha is a former travel and culture editor for CNN in Seoul. She grew up in the United States, Hong Kong, and South Korea. A graduate of Dartmouth College and the Columbia University MFA writing program, she has written for The Atlantic, The Believer, and the Yonhap News Agency, among others, and has lectured at Columbia University, Ewha Womans University, Seoul National University, and Yonsei University. She lives in Brooklyn.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Frances Cha
- 2020, Internationale Ausgabe, 288 Seiten, Maße: 23,1 x 15,3 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: Ballantine Books
- ISBN-10: 059315844X
- ISBN-13: 9780593158449
- Erscheinungsdatum: 23.04.2020
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
The chapters alternate among the women, each one breathing new life into the old chestnut, You never know what goes on behind closed doors. . . . Take a closer look and you ll find the sisterhood at the heart of this ambitious book. It s the scaffolding and also, occasionally, the wrecking ball. The New York Times Book Review [Cha] has a biting wit and an eye for absurd glitz. . . . Ultimately, female friendship bolsters precarious fortunes in this gripping novel compelling readers to consider what remains after beauty fades. O: The Oprah Magazine
An enthralling tale about the weight of old traumas, economic disparity and the restoring power of friendship . . . [A] powerful debut. People
"If I Had Your Face isn t just a good book it s a book we need, badly. . . . The vivid characters at the novel s core make for a compelling read, and in a time of such global division, hopefully a uniting one. . . . If you read one book this month, make it If I Had Your Face. InStyle
[A] powerful and provocative rendering of contemporary South Korean society, one that might be considered bleak if not for the women themselves, who occasionally surprise with their compassion and bravery. At heart, If I Had Your Face is a novel about female strength, spirit, resilience and the solace that friendship can sometimes provide. The Washington Post
Magnificent . . . With unblinking focus, [Cha] confronts some of the darkest consequences of contemporary gender inequity. Booklist (starred review)
Searing . . . Essential reading in what Jia Tolentino memorably called the age of Instagram face. Vogue (UK)
Make way for Frances Cha, an entrancing new voice who guides us into the complexities and contradictions of modern-day Seoul, a dissonant, neon world that is ripped open to bare the same universal and human challenges that face us all. I
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devoured this novel in a single sitting. Janice Y. K. Lee, New York Times bestselling author of The Piano Teacher
Few American novelists know Seoul the way Frances Cha does and in her intimate, panoramic debut, she brings that dazzling city to life. There are voices here you haven t heard before. . . . An enthralling read from the very first page. Ed Park, author of Personal Days
Troubling, kaleidoscopic, and hugely enjoyable. Nell Zink, author of Mislaid
Few American novelists know Seoul the way Frances Cha does and in her intimate, panoramic debut, she brings that dazzling city to life. There are voices here you haven t heard before. . . . An enthralling read from the very first page. Ed Park, author of Personal Days
Troubling, kaleidoscopic, and hugely enjoyable. Nell Zink, author of Mislaid
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